New Delhi, (PTI) The Centre has accorded a Y category security cover to five RSS leaders in Kerala in view of possible threats to them, official sources said on Saturday.

The names of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders is understood to have been found on the radar of the Popular Front of India (PFI) after central probe agencies recovered documents in this connection during the recent crackdown on the Islamic organisation, which the Centre banned early this week.

The smallest category of central security cover– Y– has been accorded to the five RSS leaders based on inputs and recommendations provided to the Union home ministry by central investigative and intelligence agencies, sources said.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) VIP security wing has been asked to render the task, they said.

About two to three armed commandos will be provided to each protectee as part of the cover, the sources said.

A similar cover has also been provided to Bihar BJP chief and MP from West Champaran Sanjay Jaiswal.

He was given a Y cover security in the wake of protests against him and other BJP leaders during the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme launch in June. The cover was later withdrawn but has been restored now.

With the addition of these six protectees, the CRPF has been covering at least 125 people under its VIP security umbrella. PTI 

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday appealed Union Home Minister Amit Shah to release Altaf Shah, son-in-law of late separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, on humanitarian grounds as he is suffering from renal cancer. 

Shah, along with six others, was arrested in 2017 in connection with a terror funding case. He is presently in the ICU of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi.

"Continued incarceration of Altaf Shah is inhumane as he is critically ill. Request @HMOIndia to release him on humanitarian grounds so that he can be with his family in such distressing times," Mehbooba tweeted.

The PDP president was commenting on a tweet by Shah's daughter.

"My incarcerated father has been diagnosed of acute renal cancer which has metastasis and has spread to his other body parts, including his bones. It is my whole family’s request to please allow us to see him and consider his bail application on health grounds @HMOIndia @PMOIndia," Ruwa Shah had tweeted last night. 

"He is presently on oxygen support in the ICU of RML hospital - where there is no oncology department. My father, Altaf Shah, is 66 and is a political prisoner since last 5 years at New Delhi’s Tihar Jail. @amnesty @AIIndia," she added. 

Mumbai,(PTI) Mumbai police have registered a case against former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal and two others on the charge of threatening to kill a man, who had forwarded videos to the senior NCP leader in which the latter allegedly spoke against Hindu religion, an official said.

The First Information Report (FIR) in this connection was registered at Chembur police station late Friday night, he said.

“Based on the complaint filed by the man, an offence under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) was registered against Bhujbal and two others,” the official said on Saturday.

“The complainant said that he was threatened for forwarding two videos to Bhujbal, in which the latter allegedly spoke against Hindu religion,” he added.

The case is being investigated by unit -6 of the Mumbai crime branch, the official said.

Bhujbal, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), currently represents the Yeola Assembly constituency in Nashik district. He had earlier served as the deputy chief minister of the state. PTI

Mumbai, (PTI) Sebi on Friday decided to tighten IPO disclosure norms, bring mutual fund transactions under insider trading rules ambit, introduce new option for appointment of independent directors and modify the Offer For Sale (OFS) framework.

Besides, easing the open offer price calculation for PSU divestments and facilitating online bond platform providers were among the proposals approved by the board of Sebi during its meeting held here.

The watchdog has decided to tighten disclosure norms for companies going for initial public offers, insisting that they should share more details on pricing. These include the requirement for disclosures about the price at which the institutional investors have bought shares going back to up to 18 months before the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The new norms, which follow heavy erosion of investor wealth in recent IPOs like Paytm and Zomato that led to concerns about the offer prices, will be applicable for all issuances.

Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said new-age technology companies or loss making companies cannot be assessed by the same financial parameters and the regulator felt that there is a need to end the information asymmetry.

“It will give a better basis for the investors to make their investments,” she said.

Against the backdrop of the Franklin Templeton episode that had rattled many mutual fund investors, Sebi has cleared a proposal to bring buying and selling of mutual fund units under the ambit of insider trading rules.

A proposal for the introduction of a new option for appointment and removal of independent directors from the boards of companies has been cleared by the regulator.

Once the amended rules are in place, the appointment and removal of independent directors could be done by way of two parameters — threshold for ordinary resolution and threshold for majority of minority shareholders.

Meanwhile to bring in more flexibility in the OFS framework, the watchdog will modify the relevant norms, including doing away with the minimum shareholding requirement for non-promoter shareholders.

OFS has emerged as among the favoured options for share sales.

In a move aimed to do away with possible impediment on pricing in PSU disinvestments, the regulator has decided to dispense with a requirement for calculating open offer price in such cases.

As per Sebi norms, one of the parameters prescribed to determine open offer price of a frequently traded scrip is Volume-Weighted Average Market Price (VWAMP) for 60 trading days immediately preceding the date of the public announcement.

The board, during its meeting here, approved amending the takeover regulations in the context of strategic disinvestment of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and consideration payable under open offer. PTI

 Kolkata, September 30

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its first charge sheet in the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam at a special court here.

A total of 16 persons, including former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General, Partha Chatterjee has been named in the chargesheet. Chatterjee's name is sixth in the list.

The CBI's first chargesheet in the matter has been submitted just 11 days after Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe in the scam, submitted its first chargesheet on September 30. In the ED chargesheet, the central agency named six persons, including Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee.

The CBI's chargesheet in the matter comes after 51 days since it started its investigation in the matter.]

The other important names in the CBI's chargesheet include the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education's (WBBSE) former President Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, WBSSC's former  Secretary Ashok Saha and the WBSSC's screening committee's former convener S.P. Sinha, among others.

Chatterjee is the only name that is common in both the chargesheets.

Trinamool Congress state General Secretary and pokesman, Kunal Ghosh said that if anyone is found guilty of scams the law will take its own course and the party does not have any further comments on this matter. CPI-M Rajya Sabha member, Bikash Bhattacharya said that the central agencies should wind up the investigation process fast and net more influential beneficiaries of the scam. BJP state spokesman Samik Bhattacharya said that the CBI is heading in the right direction.

Recently, the CBI had submitted its progress report at the Calcutta High Court's bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay where it detailed on how marks were tampered at the server of the WBSSC to make room for ineligible candidates depriving the eligible ones. In its report, the CBI sleuths also mentioned that marks as low as "zero to five" were to higher marks ranging from "50 to 53" at the server. The CBI also submitted the scanned copies of the original optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets as supporting documents.

 Mumbai, September 30

Home, auto and other loan EMIs are set to rise further after the RBI on Friday raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points, the fourth straight increase since May, with more hikes expected to rein in inflation.

The monetary policy committee (MPC), comprising three members from the RBI and three external experts, raised the key lending rate or the repo rate to 5.90 per cent - the highest since April 2019 - with five out of the six members voting in favour of the hike.

Since the first unscheduled mid-meeting hike in May, the cumulative increase in interest rate now stands at 190 basis points and mirrors similar aggressive monetary tightening in major economies around the globe to contain runaway inflation by dampening demand.

The MPC also decided by a majority of 5 out of 6 members to remain focused on the withdrawal of the accommodative policy stance to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

“The inflation trajectory remains clouded with uncertainties arising from continuing geopolitical tensions and nervous global financial market sentiments,” he said. “If high inflation is allowed to linger, it invariably triggers second-order effects.” The rise in repo rates would translate into higher borrowing costs for corporates and individuals.

Pledging to “remain alert and nimble” and data-dependent, he said “calibrated action” will be taken to shield the economy amid fears of a global recession.

“In this backdrop, MPC was of the view that persistence of high inflation, necessitates further calibrated withdrawal of monetary accommodation to restrain broadening of price pressures, anchor inflation expectations and contain the second-round effects. This action will support the medium-term growth prospects of our economy,” he said.

He said the current policy rate, adjusted for inflation, was still below 2019 levels.

The RBI cut its economic growth outlook for FY23 to 7 per cent from 7.2 per cent previously, while keeping its 6.7 per cent forecast on inflation.

Consumer price index-based inflation accelerated to 7 per cent in August, driven by a surge in food prices, and has stayed above the RBI’s mandated 2-6 per cent target band for eight consecutive months.

Rumki Mujumdar, economist, Deloitte India, said inflation is expected to remain high even though supply-side constraints will likely ease. “This is because we are optimistic about demand and expect strong consumer spending to exceed supply, therefore leading to demand-pull inflation.” On the rupee, Das said the RBI did not have a level for the currency in mind and it was focused on curbing volatility.

The 67 per cent decline in foreign exchange reserves, he said, was due to valuation impact and that the war chest remains robust.

His statement implied that RBI interventions are likely to continue and be focused towards defending any extreme volatility in the rupee.

“The RBI intervenes to curb exchange rate volatility,” Das said. “The adequacy of forex reserves is always kept in mind and the umbrella continues to remain strong.” Sunil Kumar Sinha, Principal Economist, India Ratings and Research, said with inflation likely to continue at elevated levels, further rate hikes was a possibility.

This is likely to be in baby steps and will be more focussed on restraining the broadening of price pressures and/or pre-empt second-round effects, he said.

“It is likely to be less aggressive, more data dependent and focussed on anchoring inflation/inflationary expectation as opposed to the current rate hikes (started in May 2022) which were essentially focussed on aligning the policy rate to surging inflation.” “The rise in rates will slow down capex plans of corporate India which were just about kicking off,” said Anu Aggarwal, head of corporate banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Das said the world has witnessed two major shocks in the last two and half years - the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. “These shocks have produced a profound impact on the global economy.” And now, the world is in the midst of a third major shock, in form of a “storm” arising from aggressive monetary policy actions from advanced countries’ central banks, he said.

“Despite this unsettling global environment, the Indian economy continues to be resilient. There is macroeconomic stability. The financial system remains intact, with improved performance parameters,” he said. “The country has withstood the shocks from COVID-19 and the conflict in Ukraine.” Real GDP growth in June quarter at 13.5 per cent was lower than RBI’s estimate but a late recovery in kharif sowing, comfortable reservoir levels, improvement in capacity utilisation, buoyant bank credit expansion and the government’s continued thrust on capital expenditure are expected to support aggregate demand and output in the second half.

 Ahmedabad, (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated phase-1 of the Ahmedabad Metro rail project between Thaltej and Vastral here, and also travelled in the train.

He inaugurated the project on the metro rail’s east-west corridor from Kalupur station, where he reached in Vande Bharat Express train that he flagged off from Gandhinagar railway station in the morning. The prime minister flagged off the metro train at Kalupur station. He then boarded the train there and travelled to Thaltej metro station. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and party MPs C R Paatil and Kirit Solanki accompanied him during the journey.

With the inauguration, the 21-km corridor of the project between Thaltej and Vastral with 17 stations became operational. This corridor has a 6.6 km underground section with four stations, the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) said in a release.

On March 4, 2019, the prime minister had inaugurated a part of phase-1 of the project connecting Vastral to Apparel Park, a distance of 6.5 km. The project was sanctioned in 2014.

The metro rail tickets will be priced between Rs 5 and Rs 15, the GMRC said.

The second phase of the project will connect state capital Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad, which will essentially be the expansion of the first phase. This phase will have two corridors – a 22.8-km stretch from Motera Stadium to Mahatma Mandir having 20 stations and a 5.4-km route from Gujarat National Law University to GIFT City having two stations. The entire route under phase-2 of the project will be elevated. PTI

 New Delhi, September 30

Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor has landed in a controversy on Friday as the manifesto shared by him for the election shows a “distorted map of India” in which he has omitted parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

He shared the distorted map of India, where he talked about ‘decentralization of the organization’

The goof-up by Tharoor, who is running for the president's post of the country's oldest party does not show good precedent. Later Tharoor rectified the blunder by replacing it with the correct map of India in his election manifesto.

This is not the first time the Lok Sabha MP has shared a distorted map of India. Earlier in 2019, Tharoor shared a 'distorted' map of India on Twitter. The northernmost territory of the country was missing from the map shared by the Congress leader.

In December 2019, he shared the cover of a booklet about the Kerala Congress's protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He later deleted the tweet and rectified his mistake.

Tharoor has issued a manifesto explaining how he intends to rejuvenate the party through decentralisation and internal reorganisation if he wins the election.

"Every party needs leadership, but at all levels and not just at the top. The Congress must empower the party in the states by giving real authority to the PCC Presidents, decentralize authority and truly empower the grassroots office-bearers of the party. We must provide a credible alternative to the BJP 's centralization of authority in its party affairs and in the affairs of governance. Re-imagining the organization, delegating powers to state, district and block leaders and empowering grassroots workers will not only free the new leader from the onerous burdens of over-administration, but help create the strong state leadership that in past eras strengthened the Congress' national appeal," the Congress leader's manifesto reads.

He also promised to increase focus on youth and to give a bigger role to women in the party "The Congress will support leadership by women, for women, in keeping with the "Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" principle. Women will be encouraged to take up issues that actually matter to women in our society. More positions for women should be reserved in PCCs and in the electoral fray. The party will work to pass the Women's Reservation Bill. In these efforts, the role and capacity of All India Mahila Congress will be strengthened," the manifesto reads.

Tharoor filed his nomination at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in the national capital. Before that, he visited the Raj Ghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

"There is a need for decentralisation in this party. We are not an election machine for winning elections every five years. We must serve the people of India," Tharoor said.

He said the manifesto explains "how we hope to rejuvenate the party, to decentralize the organisation of the party".

The senior Congress leader also hit out at the BJP government at the Centre, saying things are "not really functioning properly" in the country.

"We have seen that things are not really functioning properly in our country: demonetisation, historical unemployment, inflation. Congress should be the party to bring change," he said.

Tharoor will primarily take on another veteran leader of the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, for the party president post. Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi, too, has filed his nomination.

Earlier, Digvijaya Singh and Ashok Gehlot said that they have dropped out of the race.

The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister visited Kharge at his residence this morning. "I told him that I stand by him and can't even think of contesting against him, I will be his proposer," Singh told reporters.

Nominations for the post of Congress president closed at 3 pm today and results will be declared on October 19.

 New Delhi, September 30

Eighty-year-old Mallikarjun Kharge, the sitting leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, is all set to become the next Congress president with the Gandhi family loyalists as well as leaders of the pro-reform G-23 group throwing their weight behind him after he filed his nomination for the election to the top post on Friday.

As soon as Kharge, a last-minute entrant after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot pulled out of the race, announced his decision to run, another contender for the Congress chief's post Digvijaya Singh withdrew in the veteran's favour and calls surfaced seeking consensus behind the former nine-term Karnataka MLA and a three-term MP.

Gehlot, who was one of the formidable proposers for Kharge today, said perhaps Shashi Tharoor, who also filed his papers for the contest today, "would also withdraw from the contest making it a consensus election".

Former Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja also appealed to Tharoor to withdraw.

Tharoor, 66, however, said he was determined to run and was not "daunted by his rival".

"This election is about the youth and the future of India. I have a vision to decentralise the Congress, reimagine AICC headquarters, increase focus on youth and women. My nomination papers with 60 signatures represent the voices of Congress leaders from Kashmir to Kerala, Punjab to Nagaland, and across," Tharoor said planning to visit all states and distribute his "manifesto" to all 9,100 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates, who are voters in the election.

Kharge for his part had a strong list of proposers who signalled complete backing of incumbent Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the senior leader.

The list of proposers backing the veteran leader revealed that Kharge versus Tharoor would be a no contest in case matters come to an election, scheduled for October 17.

Kharge's proposers include Gandhi loyalists AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Ashok Gehlot, Abhishek Singhvi, Digvijaya Singh, Salman Khurshid, Ajay Maken, Tariq Anwar, Rajeev Shukla, Vineet Punia as well as G23 leaders Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Manish Tewari and Prithviraj Chavan.

Speaking for G23, Tewari surprisingly called for consensus for the top post on Friday morning and quoted late president Pranab Mukherjee on the matter.

Mukherjee had said, "Certain offices should not be sought, rather they should be offered. Congress presidency is one such office."

Tewari said it was time to close ranks and support Mallikarjun Kharge.

Asked what happened to the calls to rejuvenate the party with a younger leadership, considering Kharge was 80, Tewari said, "The Congress is an inter-generational party where there is respect for seniors."

Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had assured Tharoor that there would be no official candidate but Kharge's emergence and his list of proposers narrated a different story.

Kharge, once elected, will be the first non-Gandhi president in 25 years.

The last was Sitaram Kesri in 1997.

He was succeeded by Sonia Gandhi who assumed the mantle in 1998 and remains the longest serving to date except briefly between 2017 and 2019 when her son Rahul Gandhi came in. Rahul resigned in August 2019 taking responsibility for the party's Lok Sabha poll loss that year. Sonia has since remained the interim chief.

Kharge's selection is strategic -- he is a Gandhi family loyalist, a low-profile leader who won't rock any boat, a veteran Karnataka politician whose elevation may help the party in the 2023 state election.

Kharge is likely to quit as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha honouring the party's ‘one person one post’ rule. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh could succeed him in the role.

After filing his papers, Kharge recalled his first assembly ticket in 1972 given to him by late Indira Gandhi.

"I have been associated with the Congress since I was a child. I would paste posters propagating the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar," said an emotional Kharge as the Congress is set out to signal Scheduled Caste empowerment through Kharge's projection.

With the advent of Independence in India ,the Princely states and Provinces were given the choices to be with India ,with Pakistan or stay independent,Hari Singh of Jammu Kashmir choose to be independent but soon when attacked by Pakistan army and Azad Kashmir forces they surrender themselves to India on three subjects Defence,External affairs and communication.This was known as Treaty of Accession.

In pursuance of the commitment that only the constituent assembly of this state would determine internal constitution of state and constituton of India will provide only interim government , Article 370 was incorporated in constitution of India which provide special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The President can declare that article 370 ceases to be operative or operates with exception and modifications. However this can be done by the President only on the recommendation of the constituent assembly of the state using this power on August 2019 the abrogation of article 370 and 35A which is part of article 370 itself was done and the prevailing order of nullifying all the provisions of article 370 and autonomy granted to the state. Home minister introduce reorganisation bill in the Indian parliament doing bifurcation of state into two Union Territory, Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh .

Revocation will encourage industry and private investment, Boost tourism, PPP model will help children in education, Property and other rights of women marrying outside the state will now be fully protected.

All central schemes for women and children made fully applicable here. ST’s in J&K will now get political reservation through reservation in regional parliament seats like in the rest of country. 73rd and 74th amendment became applicable here. All this will help the Jammu and Kashmir to retain the fragrance of chinar in it ,step a head now legislative election is going to held there and the new feather is the addition of 25 lakhs new voters in the list which are non locals or non residential people but have live their due to their work and profession.

Formation and development of Jammu and Kashmir as Union territory makes administration better and will help people there to grow and achieve new heights.The beauty of India is its diversity and in its akhandta and Jammu Kashmir is an undivided part of India. Over the years it remain partly separated but its high time that stone should be replaced by infrastructure,violence by peace, and let the heaven on earth be the heaven for people there too.

Author-Pooja Sharma

                                                                                                                                                                *Tip- it's author's own opinion*